Coroner: Suspect in murders of three Kentucky police officers died by suicide

An autopsy confirmed the suspect in the shooting deaths of three Kentucky police officers died as a result of suicide by hanging, the local coroner said Wednesday.

Lance Storz was found dead Tuesday. An autopsy was performed Wednesday morning, according to Pike County Coroner Kevin Hall.

Storz was found hung with a sheet in a bathroom at the Pike County Detention Center early Tuesday, Hall said.

Storz was charged with shooting three police officers to death, wounding other police and the county emergency manager, and killing a police dog during a stand-off last June 30 in Allen, a town of fewer than 200 residents in Floyd County.

Storz opened fire without warning when officers arrived to serve him with a domestic-violence complaint. A local official said Storz had a .308-caliber and AR-15 rifles.

William Petry, a deputy with the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, and Ralph Frasure, a captain with the Prestonsburg Police Department, died at the scene.

Jacob Chaffins, another Prestonsburg officer, was shot in the head and died the next day.

Storz could have faced the death penalty if convicted. He was scheduled for a hearing later this month, but likely wouldn’t have gone to trial until next year.

The national suicide prevention hotline has recently been changed to a three-digit suicide and crisis hotline. It is available 24/7 and can be reached by dialing 988. More information can be found at 988lifeline.org.